How can we create a community benefits system?

Designing Communities

Designing Communities is a unique project and a major legacy of the Dott Cornwall programme. It has transformed from a small project about the feasibility of a new community building into a potentially ground-breaking initiative that could reduce many of the negative social and economic impacts associated with deprivation in the UK. Our idea for a ‘community benefits system' has been presented within the House of Lords and Department for Communities and Local Government, and is being developed by Sea as a pilot programme for Cornwall Council with key partners.

Pengegon is officially Cornwall's most deprived neighbourhood. It is in the UK's bottom 2% for overall deprivation, income deprivation (bottom 1%), employment deprivation (bottom 4%), income deprivation affecting children (bottom 2%), education skills and training affecting children / young people (bottom 3%). The percentage of children in poverty (under 16) is 50.8% - which equates to around 135 children. The community has been described as lacking confidence and aspiration. Many residents don't access the support services available to them due to mistrust of agencies.

Overcoming Perceptions

We involved ourselves in the community to gain trust and capture views. We discovered that apathy sits on both sides of the fence. There is a perception that Pengegon residents benefit hugely from government support, however, beyond the localism (community regeneration) team agency intervention is minimal. This has a deeply negative social and economic impact; and this is something we began to explore in more depth, leading us to form new ideas on how to tackle deprivation in communities. We identified a much stronger community spirit and desire for change than the facts and figures suggest.

Enabling Self Sufficiency

Sea are now embarking on a pilot programme in Pengegon, which is centred around a vision for enabling the community to become increasingly self-sufficient. We envisage that this could significantly reduce the social and economic impacts of deprivation in communities.

Community Job Creation

From our continued engagement with the community we have learnt that most of what motivates residents is based around their community. Subsequently we have co-developed a "community job creation" scheme that encourages residents to become more active in their communities, gain confidence and develop the skills they need for getting back into employment.

The scheme enlists residents on community projects such as the build of a new community centre, community maintenence, retrofitting houses for energy efficiency, installing broadband - anything and everything that will create a significantly improved living environment.

Create An Intermediate Labour Market

This will create an intermediate labour market that links people with jobs in their own estate and create a catalyst for sustainable employment that is supported through skills development and family/community engagement. If their activity performs a valuable role in the community and can be sponsored, each resident will have the option to be paid the minimum wage and come off benefits.